Raise Your Voice

Raise Your Voice

It is difficult to attribute a leader’s success to any one trait or asset. Yet, of all the personal characteristics, gifts, talents and abilities of which serve effective leaders, the voice is one of the most powerful instruments. It has been stated that a leader must possess a compelling vision, however, what good is a vision without a voice to imprint on the imagination of a listening audience. Without a voice, a visionary will remain unfulfilled, and their vision unrealized. The voice is often the means by which one man’s flame becomes a consuming fire in the hearts of many. Your voice has the capacity to capture attention, raise awareness or summon masses of people towards needed action. All too often, our voice is engaged in substandard communication or self-defeating dialogue, with negligible

results.

Has it ever occurred to you that your voice was to be used for more than personal expressions or private agendas? Did you ever stop to consider that your voice could be used to amplify relevant issues or speak on behalf of those less fortunate? This doesn’t mean that you have to be marching in Washington or running for a political office to be effectively using your voice. All around you are countless opportunities to speak up. Everywhere people are waiting and praying for someone to raise their voice to acknowledge, encourage or support them in their struggle. Perhaps, we should work diligently to raise our voice, not in a defiant or defensive manner, but in order to raise awareness of important topics, to raise the standards, to take a stand. Raising your voice doesn’t require a platform or microphone to be heard. It simply requires courage. When was the last time that you raised your voice?

Freedom of speech is our right as citizens of the United States of America. With this right comes great responsibility. We can’t immediately see the ramifications of raising our voice, of speaking up and speaking out, but this right goes unappreciated and severely underestimated, especially when we remain silent. Imagine being held accountable for every spoken word, or literally seeing what is being said. “I see what you’re saying” is an all too familiar statement, which implies that the listener understands what is being shared. But, in reality, this statement may be truer than most realize. How radically different our communication would be, and how intentional our words would instantly become, if they were readily visible. We have all witnessed firsthand the power of one human voice, the power of its rich influence and deep understanding. May your words, one day stand as a visible reality, bearing witness to what you have thoughtfully spoken, so that you will see firsthand and know the power of your own voice!